Free Publicity: 5 Fundamental Promotional Strategies from PR Pros

This blog is contributed by Jeff Crilley, Author, Free Publicity, and featured presenter at the 2014 Print Leadership Summit. With more than two decades of news experience and hard-earned PR expertise, Crilley shows you how to use fundamental promotion strategies to put your business in the spotlight.

Do you have a great idea to market your business but no clue how to get noticed by customers? If you’re tired of spending your resources but just not seeing the ROI, I can relate.

After 25 years of beating the street as a TV reporter and now as President & CEO of Real News Public Relations, I have learned what it really takes to get your great ideas in front of your audience. And I have a scoop for you: to get noticed, you need to sell your brand story like reporters sell the front page story. Whether it comes from the newsroom or the pressroom, fundamentally getting attention is all about having the right message at the right time in the right place.

So, here are five fundamental elements that can increase the success of marketing your business from some of the top PR pros in the industry:

1) Be Unusual

Have you ever seen a promotion that was so different and creative that it made you stop in your tracks? Doing something “outside the box” can be intimidating, but just as the news doesn’t cover what’s normal, the usual promotion won’t get you the head-turning results that can drive more sales. You can say that the old adage about “man bites dog” still holds true—uniqueness sells.

For example, PR whiz Carolyn Alvey knew this when she was trying to raise money for a charity several years ago. Instead of holding a garage sale, she sent out a press release announcing a “Celebrity Garage Sale.” Everything from Bob Hope’s old golf clubs to Roger Staubach’s long-neglected neckties was for sale. By making an ordinary garage sale unique, the media was instantly sold on the story.